Vacation Without Guilt

As I write this, I’m feeling refreshed and motivated as my husband and I just spent a week in beautiful St. Lucia to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. It’s been a while since Kenny and I have been able to get away on vacation for just the 2 of us. With Kenny’s work travel and our opposite work schedules while he is home it’s rare that we get to spend much time together over the course of 7 days. I know that other’s have it worse, so I can’t feel too sorry for us. But I was excited to take this long over due vacation with just Kenny to say the least! We took a break from work obligations and truly enjoyed ourselves leaving our worries behind.

Since being back I’ve been hearing questions and comments such as, “Did you workout while on vacation?” “What did you eat?” “What did you drink?” “How did you manage to stay ripped?” “How did you not even gain a pound?” So I thought, what a perfect blog post to write.

To start off, yes I worked out every day while I was on vacation. I will agree, vacation is a time for relaxation, but it’s not a time to take a break completely from your regular routine. CONSISTENCY is key to results; remember that! The reason that I can eat bad every so often and not gain much weight if any at all is because I’m consistent with a healthy lifestyle 80% of the time. I’m not an ALL or NOTHING type of person. If my eating is bad, you better believe that I’m still working out to detox my body from the bad stuff; if I can’t workout (for some odd reason) then my eating is as on point as a supermodel yoga enthusiast! Plus, my workouts are part of my lifestyle, it’s how I keep my head high, my positive outlook on life and have confidence in everything that I do. I know this about myself, so to me it’s a no brainer. Skipping a workout would be like skipping a meal (it just rarely happens!)

What did I eat? I ate what I felt like my body needed or wanted in the moment. I wasn’t worried about how many carbs, proteins and fats I was getting. You’re on vacation, you cannot stress about every little thing that goes into your body! I focused on how my body felt (hungry? full? Bloated?). When I’m at home I have a plan and stick to that plan so that I don’t over eat too much of the bad stuff. Each thing that goes into my mouth is thought about. When on vacation I would say that 50% of my food is thought about (aka being somewhat health conscious) and the other 50% is just eating it because I want it. We were at an all inclusive resort where the food and drinks were endless. I could have gained 10lbs if I really worked at it, but I made certain that if I was eating something unhealthy that I didn’t over eat it.

Now for the million dollar question, what is your drink of choice?! Tropical Islands are known for the fruity, sugary drinks. Which taste amazing, right?! But is drinking 600 calories really that amazing?! Uh, no. I had my fair share of fruity drinks such as Rum Punch, and Miami Vices, but it was not what I ordered consistently. My drink of choice is… are you ready for it? Absolut Citron and soda water with a splash of lemon juice! It’s refreshing, low in calories and doesn’t leave you feeling bloated and puffy from all the sugar after 1 drink. You might be turning your nose up to it thinking, “eeeww”, but honestly it’s all in what you train your taste buds to like. Start training them to enjoy the absence of sugar! 🙂 Your body will thank you later!

Bottom line, consistency with good habits is what it all really comes down to. I was able to stay “ripped” because I’m consistently taking care of myself and conscious of my choices. I’m not all in or nothing when it comes to my health. Were there times that I felt over full or bloated? Yes, but I didn’t beat myself up about it, I just made sure that my next choice was a little healthier and that I got a workout in the next day.

As soon as I got into my home routine all of that bloat immediately went away. That’s what happens when you’re consistent. Your body will be ready going into vacation and bounce back to itself when you’re back from vacation. I can’t stress enough how important consistency is! Find a healthy lifestyle that works for you, follow it 80% of the time; and eliminate the stress of losing those stubborn 10-15lbs before or after an event.

How do you stay on track when you’re on vacation?

#EatingHealthy #Motivation #Vacation